I was against the movie God’s Not Dead from the beginning. I saw the trailer and hoped nobody would ever go watch this, but, miraculously (hah), it made millions of dollars at the box office. I could tell it would be bad, and I read that it indeed was bad. I vowed never to give that type of production my money, but I kept hearing fellow Christians say stuff like, “It was good.” I was brought to my breaking point when somebody finally said, “it was so good.” That type of language is some Guardians of the Galaxy type description. I could no longer stand idly by. I needed a way to substantiate my claims that this movie should not be praised.

I immediately watched that movie. Luckily, I did not pay for it.

After the deed was done, some people questioned my actions. My good friend Thomas (also a Christian) was incredibly concerned:

I worry about you sometimes Daniel. Watching “God’s Not Dead” is definitely red flag behavior. If you need to talk about stuff, I’m here for you.

The overall message of this movie is very offensive and just wrong for several reasons. I’m going to do this buzzfeed style because that seems to be the only thing that people read nowadays.

6 Things God’s Not Dead Wants You to Take away from it:

Everybody who is not Christian is amoral, insecure, abusive, selfish, greedy, and a complete douchebag.

All atheists are atheists because God did not answer one of their prayers, so they are actually just mad at Him.

Every atheist is on the verge of becoming a Christian.

The best way for somebody to be converted to Christianity is if they are put in some sort of mortal peril (ex. cancer).

Arguing is the best way to get people to believe in God.

Christians don’t need to talk about Jesus when trying to make a case for God.

The main issue is that if I were to change the title of this list to 6 Things Christians Should Stop Thinking Are True, most Christians who knew what the heck they believe in would agree. But no. People see a movie that is supposedly “Christian” and think that it is speaking truth.

Here are some specific reasons this movie does a poor job of portraying true Christian faith, misrepresents other people groups, and tells a bad story:

One of the character explicitly says that all atheists got that way because they are mad at God. Not true at all.

The rich and greedy atheist hated his mother apparently because she had dementia and prayed.

The ministers tried to rent a car. The rental guy drove the car to them and sat stranded as they drove off.

The professor had a change of heart and decided to go find his Christian, live-in girlfriend at a Newsboys concert with thousands of people in attendance and no ticket.

The atheist reporter lady only comes to Christ once she finds out she is dying because why not.

What happened to the main character’s girlfriend after she dumped him. Probably died. She was actually a horrible character and actress.

The guy from Duck Dynasty is in it.

There was a fobby Asian student literally says, “I have placed out of all my core classes, including math and chemistry.”

The Islamic father beats and kicks out his daughter once he finds out she’s Christian.

A freshman in college doesn’t really put up great arguments against his professor. He just gets his professor to admit that his mommy died and then pokes at that nerve until he breaks in front of the whole class.

The movie asks you to text everybody in your phone, “God’s Not Dead.” I’m sure that will go over very well.

Christians are already portrayed negatively in the media by many non-Christian productions. It’s very sad that even a Christian production can’t get it right either. God’s Not Dead leaves out the grace, love, and compassion that Christ came down to teach us while we were still sinners. This movie would be much more interesting if the protagonist struggled with the fact that people who do not know Jesus are just as moral as he is. It would be a humbling and true story, and it would also give the film a chance to explain what Christ has done for us. We don’t need more Christian propaganda that more often than not turns people from the church. For now, I’m just going to keep watching The Prince of Egypt until something better comes out.

TL;DR – God’s Not Dead is a smug Christian movie made for smug Christians to get them to believe that everybody who isn’t Christian is a smug, insecure prick. It barely mentions Jesus, is unbiblical, and insults every group of people that it wants us to reach out to and save. God help all the sunday school classes that will show this to their kids.

One thought on “God’s Not Dead is a terrible movie”

I haven’t watched it, but your post makes me want to. I’ve heard everyone saying that it was really good, but if what you’re saying about it is true, I definitely have to watch it. I thought your views of what a Christian should be were right. Showing people the love of JESUS should be first and foremost, not judging or criticizing them. I’m looking forward to chatting with you about it after I watch it. Blessings to you! 🙂